Recruits
by KTEW
Summary: What if Smellerbee and Longshot had shown up at The Day of Black Sun? Not many things would've been different... Well, not many things that they showed. Smellershot, The DukexOC, TeoxHaru
1. I'm Sorry

*Katara's POV*

Sokka was looking at his invasion plans. Again. He rubbed his eyes. He'd been working so hard for the past few days. I handed him a cup of water and put my hand on his back.

Aang jumped up behind us. "Top of the morning, Momo," he said as the lemur jumped onto his shoulder.

Sokka took a sip of the water and I stood up. "Sounds like you slept well," I said.

"Like a baby moose-lion," Aang answered. He took a fighting stance. "I'm ready to face the Fire Lord."

Toph smiled, sitting on a rock next to him. "So what's your strategy for taking him down? Gonna get your glow and hit him with a little Avatar State action?" she asked, pantomiming.

Aang slumped a little. "I can't," he said. "When Azula shot me with lightning, my seventh chakra was locked, cutting off my connection to all the cosmic energy in the universe."

"You know what I just heard?" Toph asked. "Blah, blah, spiritual mumbo jumbo, blah, blah, something about space."

It was then I noticed the fog. "Oh, no. Sokka, do you think the fog will delay the invasion?" I asked.

Sokka stood up and smiled. "No. That _is_ the invasion!"

I noticed the Water Tribe ships in the fog.

Dad.

I wondered fleetingly if they had recruited waterbenders, if they were pulling the fog trick. But then I didn't care.

Dad was back.

Toph and Aang earthbended docks for the ships. Dad got off one. I ran up and hugged him, Sokka right behind me.

"You made it, Dad!" I said.

"Were you able to locate everyone I told you to find?" Sokka asked.

"I did," Dad said. "But I'm a little worried, Sokka." He turned a bit and I noticed Due and Tho getting off the boat behind us.

"Some of these men aren't exactly the warrior _type_," Dad finished.

"Whew-ee!" Due exclaimed. "This place ain't nothin' like the swamp!" He ran over to a rock and pointed at it. "What'chu recon that is, Tho? Some sorta Fire Nation explodin' trap would eat'cha?"

"It's just a rock, Due," Tho answered.

Due scratched his head. "Well, I'll be," he said.

"Is it just me," Dad asked, "or are those fellas a little loose in the leaf hat?"

"I just wish they would wear _pants_," Bato said, walking by.

I noticed Huu, scratching his stomach. "Pants are an illusion," he said. "And so is death."

_Wow_… And, of course, Sokka was grinning like an idiot.

I went over to Aang and Toph.

"Hi, Katara," I heard behind me. I turned around and saw a familiar face with a mustache and goatee.

"Haru!" I said. "It's so good to see you!" I ran over and hugged him.

Aang led Toph over. "Toph," he said, "this is Haru. When we met him, his town was controlled by the Fire Nation, so he had to hide his earthbending."

"Katara inspired me and my father to take back our village," Haru said. I blushed.

Tyro came up behind us and put a hand on each of our shoulders. "You helped us find our courage, Katara," he said. "Now we're here to help you."

Toph frowned and spun around. "No way," she said. "Is that–?"

A huge pair of hands grabbing her cut her off. The Hippo crushed her to himself. "Hippo happy to see Blind Bandit!" he said.

"You guys here for a rematch?" she asked.

"Nugatory," the Boulder said behind the Hippo. "The Boulder and the Hippo no longer fight for others entertainment. Now, we fight for our kingdom!"

Toph looked startled, then grinned. "Sweet."

_Alrighty, then_, I thought.

And then I heard the explosion.

Sokka, Dad, Aang and I ran over to the ship. The Mechanist came up from below deck along with a cloud of smoke, coughing. Teo wheeled down the ramp. We ran over to him. The Mechanist and Pipsqueak, the Duke and his shoulder, came down after him.

"Was that a new invention?" Sokka asked. Teo was licking brown goop off his hand.

"Yes," the Mechanist said, walking over and scratching the back of his head. "But, unfortunately, the incendiary capabilities of peanut sauce proved to be a failure."

"You're making _peanut sauce bombs_?" Sokka asked.

"They're destructive," Pipsqueak started.

"And delicious!" the Duke finished. They licked the sauce off their faces.

Sokka and Aang started talking to Teo and the Mechanist.

I heard a chuckle behind me. "Well, aren't you just the little inventor," a familiar voice said.

I turned around. Smellerbee and Longshot were standing there, looking up at the Duke and Pipsqueak.

"Don't call me little!" the Duke yelled.

"Well, you are," Smellerbee said, crossing his arms.

"Hi!" I said, slightly taken aback. I hadn't expected them.

They turned to me. Longshot nodded. Smellerbee said, "Oh, hey." He didn't look that happy to see me.

There was a question that had been bugging me since we left Ba Sing Se. But how to start it?

"Um…" Oh, how creative. "Is Jet okay?"

Smellerbee looked… broken. Longshot put his arm around his shoulder. And then I realized something. The kohl. The way he'd glomped Jet.

It suddenly hit me that Smellerbee was… a girl.

She shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"Don't be," she said quietly. "It wasn't your fault. You tried to heal him. You did everything you could."

Um… now would be a bad time to mention that I completely forgot about the spirit water.

Later.

Maybe.

If I wasn't afraid she'd kill _me_.

She shook it off, ran over to Pipsqueak, and threw her arms around him. "I missed you, you big softy."

He chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Missed you, too, Smellerbee."

She let go, smiling. "Anything interesting happen while we were gone?" she asked. Longshot stepped next to her.

"Well…" the Duke started.

I smiled and walked away. I had to go greet some more recruits.


	2. All of It

*Bee's POV*

I shook my head, laughing. "Leave it to you to blow up half the city," I said to the Duke.

They'd just finished telling us about one of the villages they'd passed through on their way to Omashu. No one had been hurt, but they'd been chased out.

"What about you guys?" the Duke asked. "Anything happen to you? And what did Katara mean 'Is Jet okay?' Where is he?"

My spirits sank. I'd hoped I wouldn't have to tell them. That somebody already had, or they somehow already knew.

"He's dead," Longshot whispered next to me.

Their faces fell.

"What?" the Duke said.

"Please, just go ask Aang, or one of them," I whispered.

"We wanna hear it from you," Pipsqueak said.

"Well–" I started.

"Troops!" a voice said, cutting me off. I turned around. Chief Hakoda was standing on the platform, Katara, Aang, Sokka, and that blind girl (Toph?) sitting behind him.

"My son will now tell you about his plan," he said, sitting down next to the boy in question.

"After," I whispered. We sat down.

Sokka gulped. Even from the back row I could see that he was nervous. Chief Hakoda said something to him, and he took a deep breath and stepped up.

"Good morning, everyone!" he said, holding a scroll above his head. He tripped. Hard. He grabbed his scrolls and stood up, grinning sheepishly.

"Um…" he started. "So. As you know, today, we're invading the Fire Nation! I mean, I know you know that, because, otherwise, why else would you be here?" He laughed nervously.

Oh, this was not going to go well.

"Anyway," he said. He dropped half of his scrolls and scrambled to pick them up. He hung one on the board behind him. It was something I was too far away to read written on a strip of yellow surrounded by Fire Nation signs.

"The Fire Lord's palace is here," he said, pointing. He noticed he had the wrong scroll. "Uh, no, uh, wait," he said, flipping through them, "uh, wait, uh, wait," he got to the right one, "it's _here_, and, uh, there's an eclipse today! And Aang's gonna fight the Fire Lord! And… the firebenders won't have any fire to use! So… that's good for us! And! Uh… I'm sorry. Let me start at the beginning."

Oh, boy.

"Katara and I discovered Aang frozen in an iceberg. Now, I didn't like Aang at first, but I grew to love him over time. And then we went to the Southern Air Temple, where Aang used to live. And then we met Suki, who's a Kyoshi Warrior. She must be, like, a woman, because she kissed me. And then Aang's friend was a crazy old king. And then Katara got Haru arrested, and then now he's grown a mustache, which, if you look in the front row, you can see it–"

Hakoda stepped up. "Thank you, Sokka," he said. "It's okay, why don't you take a break." Aw, he didn't get to us yet!

Sokka walked off.

"Let me just clarify a few points for everyone," the Chief said. "Today is the day of Black Sun. And I wanna thank you all for your self sacrifice and your courage. There are two steps to the invasion. A naval stage, and then a land stage. To gain sea access to the Fire Nation capital, we have to get past our first major obstacle, here." He pointed at the map.

"The Great Gates of Azulon," he continued. "Next," he said, flipping the map over, "we hit the land. And we hit hard. We must fight past their battlements and secure the plaza tower. Once we do that, it's up to the royal palace. At that point, the eclipse will begin."

…Wait, _what_?

"Excuse me," a deep voice said from the front. It seemed… familiar. I tried to see over the heads of the people in front of me. "The Boulder is confused," it said.

The Boulder.

_The_ second most powerful earthbender in the world. (Toph seemed to hate me, so…)

He was a legend! And I was sitting a few yards away from him!

"Isn't the point to invade _during_ the eclipse?" he asked. "When the firebenders are powerless?"

"The eclipse only lasts eight minutes," the Chief said. "Not enough time for the whole invasion. And the royal palace is heavily guarded by firebenders." Okay, now this was starting to make more sense. "So that's where we'll need the eclipse's advantage the most. When this is finished, the Avatar will have defeated the Fire Lord. We will have control of the Fire Nation capital, and this war will be over!"

We cheered. If only the war had been over eight years ago… I couldn't think like that. I had the Freedom Fighters. That made up for it.

But not enough that I didn't hate the Fire Nation.

All of it.


	3. I Can't

*Bee*

I dipped my fingers in the jar and smeared another layer of paint on my cheek, leaning over the edge of one of the docks so I could see my reflection. If I was going to be a warrior, I was going to look the part.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I didn't have to read his mind to know what he was thinking.

"I can't tell them, Longshot," I whispered. "I just… can't. I'll fall to pieces."

I turned to him. He nodded. (I know it's hard, but Katara and the others just don't get it. They didn't see the whole thing. They probably think he just went crazy.)

I turned back to the water. "He _did_ go crazy," I said sadly. "I mean, I know he hates the Fire Nation, I do, too. We _all_ do. But… he was just… _obsessed_. He wouldn't let it go. And he paid for it. And so did we."

(I know. But there's no one else who can really tell them everything that happened. Aang and everyone didn't see anything before Jet was brainwashed. Or after he…)

"Don't say it," I said, even though I knew he wasn't going to. "Please, just don't."

He nodded. (But you _will_ have to tell them. Eventually.)

"Longshot, if you're gonna go on about this, just leave. Please." I wouldn't cry. Warriors don't cry.

He nodded again and got up. And then he left.

I honestly wasn't sure if I was relieved or even more depressed.

I started at my reflection again. Short, scruffy hair, big, sunken eyes, a full upper lip, a small, pointed chin.

I wasn't going to be mistaken for a boy today.

I took off my headband, cut it into a ribbon, and tied my hair up in a messy ponytail. The Fire Nation was in for a surprise.

A girl was gonna kick all of their butts.


	4. Jet Knew Best

*Bee*

Boats.

Honestly, I don't love them. I grew up in a forest in the middle of the Earth Kingdom. Not many oceans around.

At the moment, I was below deck, talking to someone who hated them even more than me.

"Why _do_ you hate them, anyways?" I asked.

"I can't see a thing," Toph said. "I _see_ through vibrations in the earth, but a ship's made almost completely out of wood. That and the smell. I'm sorry, but fish is _not_ the best thing to wake up to in the morning."

I chuckled. "Yeah, well, neither is the smell of burnt hair. And flesh. And tree." I glanced over at the Duke.

He noticed. "I'm sorry! I miscalculated!"

"Yeah, no kidding," I laughed. I turned back to Toph. "He used a whole barrel of blasting jelly for one bomb. We're lucky he didn't burn the forest down." It came out before I thought it through.

The Duke looked hurt.

"No, I didn't mean that," I said. "I'm sorry, I didn't think."

He shrugged. "It's okay."

Toph looked confused. "Okay, what's going on?"

"Well," I started, "how much did Katara and Aang tell you about us?"

"Just that you were, like, Jet's puppets and tried to flood a town."

"Oh, they think that highly of us?" I grumbled. "Well, sort of. We lived in this forest. There were about… forty of us?" I looked at the Duke.

He nodded. "Forty or fifty."

I turned back to Toph. "We're all orphans. The Fire Nation killed our parents, burned down our villages, stuff like that. It was our job to make sure they never did that to anyone ever again. So we called ourselves the Freedom Fighters.

"The Fire Nation had taken over a nearby village a few years ago. We were trying to get rid of them. And then your friends showed up. Jet tricked them into thinking that the forest was going to be burned down, and we needed the reservoir full so we could fight the fires. But, really, he wanted to blow the dam between the reservoir and the town. To get rid of the Fire Nation. But that would also kill all the people in the town.

"When he told us the plan, the Duke spoke up. But he was the only one. Later on I found out Longshot didn't wanna do it, either, but he didn't say anything. He never does."

"What about you?" Toph asked. "Did you say anything?"

I shook my head. "I didn't even think twice about it. I figured Jet knew best.

"Anyway, so Jet told Aang and Katara to use the steam vents that ran along the edge of the stream that let to the reservoir. They were supposed to bend the water from them into the stream. We had two waterbenders in the group, but they weren't confident enough to try.

"Earlier, Sokka had found out about the plan. Jet made me and Pipsqueak take him so he wouldn't tell Aang and Katara. And he got away and I wound up in a hogmonkey trap. Don't ask. Please.

"Back to Aang and Katara, they found out and froze Jet to a tree, but we wound up blowing the dam, anyways. We _thought_ the plan had worked. And then Sokka came up and told Jet that he'd gotten all the people out. And then your friends left.

"After that, I realized Jet was… crazy. He was ready to kill an entire town just to get rid of a few soldiers. Longshot and I talked about leaving, but we'd been in the Freedom Fighters for years. We didn't know where else to go.

"And then the Fire Nation really _did_ burn the forest down.

"It's kind of ironic, really. I thought we'd gotten our poetic justice when Jet was frozen to a tree. Then I figured we did when they burned the forest down. Everyone survived, but the group split up. Evidently that wasn't enough.

"Jet, Longshot, and I decided to go to Ba Sing Se because it was big, far away, and Fire Nation-free. And then we met "Li and Mushi". I didn't trust them, but trying to get Li to join the group made Jet happy, so I didn't say anything. Well, I didn't say half of what was on my mind.

"After the tea incident… wait do you know about that?"

Toph shook her head.

"We'd gotten off the ferry. Jet was trying to convince Li to join, and a tea cart passed by. Mushi ordered a cup, took a sip, and complained it was too cold. When Jet saw him again, there was steam coming out of the cup.

"He figured he heated it himself, and they were firebenders. Jet was… honestly, _stalking_ them for a week or so, trying to get proof. And then Longshot and I confronted him. I figured maybe we could convince him he was just getting obsessed. But I guess it pushed him over the edge. Because he attacked Li and got arrested. And you know the rest."

She nodded. "I guess because you tried to kill all those people, they had to take someone away from you."

"Yeah, no kidding," I muttered. I turned to the Duke. "And that's pretty much what happened."

"But how did Jet…" he trailed off.

Okay, it was now or never. "Ever heard of the Dai Li?" I asked.

He shook his head.

"They're–" I started. I was cut off by everyone running below deck.

I jumped up and ran over to Longshot. "What happened?" I asked.

(The gates were up. There's at least thirty soldiers coming.)

"So what now?" I asked.

(We pray Sokka's invention works.)


	5. Call Me the Finder

*Bee*

Okay, I'm used to living in a forest.

Big. Open.

_Not made of metal_.

The submarine was making me kind of claustrophobic. Well, at least I was doing better than Toph.

"You've really outdone yourself this time, son," the Chief said.

"Yeah," Toph groaned. "Congratulations, Sokka. You've managed to invent a worse way of travel than flying." She looked like she was about to puke.

The Duke took off his helmet and held it out to her. "Helmet?"

She took it.

_Have fun cleaning that out_, I thought.

I looked over at Katara, steering with her bending. I wondered what it was like to be a bender. In the group there was Cinnamon and Honey, and a few earthbenders, but not many, and none of them were even close to being masters.

I missed the girls. I didn't even get to say goodbye before Jet dragged us off. Most of the group was older than me, and whoever wasn't was closer to the Duke's age. There was Jewels and Granyt, but even they were usually off in their own little world.

Longshot walked over and sat down next to me. (What's up?)

"I miss Cinnamon and Honey."

"So do I," the Duke broke in.

"Remember that time they wrote on Sneers's face while he was asleep?" I asked.

"And then he chased them around the hideout for an hour," the Duke said.

(What do you mean 'them'? You helped, too.)

The three of us laughed.

"Hey, Smellerbee?" the Duke asked.

"Yeah?"

"Tell me the story of how you found them."

"_Again_?"

"Yes, _again_. I like it."

"You know, Honey's only two years older than you…" I loved teasing him about it.

He blushed and muttered something under his breath.

I smiled, leaned back, and sighed. "Okay, here we go.

"It was… I think five years ago. A couple of years before we found you. We'd just started to really build up the group. There were about… twelve of us?" I looked over at Longshot. He nodded.

"I was on patrol. Which was weird, considering I was the second youngest, but whatever. I heard something and went to go check it out, jumping from tree to tree. There were two girls, younger than me, by the stream. The younger one was blonde, the older one's hair was reddish-brown. The younger one was holding her hand over the water and looked like she was concentrating. The older one was standing next to her, holding her hand like the younger one was, and saying something to her, but I was too far away to hear.

"They moved their hands up at the same time. Nothing happened for the younger one, but the water under the older one's hand started to move. Not a lot, but enough for me to be able to tell she was a waterbender.

"I climbed down and walked over. At this point I'd already started wearing the paint and kohl, so I imagine I didn't look that welcoming. I said 'Hey.' The two of them turned around quickly, the older stepping in front of the younger. I noticed they both had scars. The younger had a gash running from the corner of her right eye almost to her jaw. The older had a burn under her jaw that spread to the left side of her neck.

"I raised my hands and said, 'I'm not gonna hurt you.' The older one relaxed a little bit, but didn't move. I said they were a long way from home. She asked who I was. I said, 'Someone who knows what it's like to feel alone.' She said, 'I'm not alone, I have my sister.' I said, 'But it's just the two of you.' She hesitated, then nodded. I told her I knew a place they could stay.

"She asked what I meant, I told her about what had happened to all of us. How each of us was found, the naming thing, our "job". To stop the Fire Nation. I asked how she'd gotten from the Northern Water Tribe – at this point no one knew there were any benders in the Southern – to the Southern Earth Kingdom. She said she didn't know. Neither of them remembered anything before waking up on the side of the road about a year ago. They'd kinda just wandered around since then, trying to find… somewhere. She was seven, her sister was five. They needed someone to take care of them.

"I asked if they wanted to come back to the Freedom Fighters with me. She said yes. So did her sister. I asked if they had names, she said no. They didn't remember theirs. I asked if she wanted me to come up with one, she said yes, so did her sister. I asked if they could fight. She said she could waterbend a little, so could her sister, but barely. And they didn't know how to use weapons. So I tried to think of anything else I could use. I didn't know much about the Water Tribe. Honestly, I still don't. I knew they had two gods, for the ocean and the moon, but I couldn't remember their names and I wasn't about to call them Ocean and Moon. Or ask them. That would just be embarrassing.

"So I studied them. There was nothing really distinguishing about them except the scars – and I wasn't about to name them after those – and… their hair. I knew most people in the Water Tribe had black or dark brown hair, and, for that matter, dark skin. But they were both pretty pale, and the younger was blonde, the older almost a redhead. So I tried to think of a name that wouldn't sound ridiculous. Or at least, no more ridiculous than Bee, or Jet, or Longshot. I tried to think of what the color reminded me of. Something golden, something reddish brown. And then I thought of honey and cinnamon."

I shrugged. "And that how I found them and how they got their names."

The Duke smiled, then seemed to realize something. "You found most of us, didn't you?" he asked.

He was right. I'd found him, Longshot, the girls… most of the group, actually.

"Huh. I guess I did." I smiled. "Call me the finder."

(You know what's weird?) Longshot asked.

I turned to him. "What?"

(You get along so well with random kids you meet in the forest – me, the Duke, Jet, the girls – but you can't get along with people you meet, say, on a ferry. Or kids that have families. Homes.)

I shrugged. "Guess I'm just picky like that. Besides, I'm getting along with Toph. Right?"

She looked up, looking even paler than usual. "What? Oh, yeah, I guess. But I'm not so sure I'm an exception."

"Waddaya mean?" I asked.

"I _have_ a family, but we're not all that close. My parents kept me hidden from the world and treated me like some helpless little girl for twelve years."

"What'd they do when they found out you wanted to go with the Avatar?" I asked.

"Said they'd given me too much freedom in the past. That from then on I'd be watched 24/7."

"So how'd you end up here?"

"I ran away."

I knew what that was like. I'd been captured before. Barely escaped with my life most of the time. But running away from people who cared about her…

"Why?" I asked.

"They wouldn't let me _do_ anything. I was supposed to sit at home all day and act like I was helpless. I'm the most powerful earthbender in the world. I'm not the little blind girl I was before I learned to bend."

Before I met Jet I was some little village girl. I was different. I can't even remember my old name. "I know the feeling."


	6. I Saw Something

*Bee*

Fresh air. Sweet, sweet fresh air.

I took it in gulps, savoring it while it lasted. We only had a few minutes until we had to get back in the sub.

I looked around. The Duke was washing out his helmet. Sometimes that kid's too nice for his – or his helmet's – own good.

Most of the others were just stretching. The guy with the mustache – what was his name? Haru? – was sitting with his legs dangling over the side of the sub. Katara, Aang, Sokka, and Toph were talking. Longshot was – wait a minute, where was he?

"Everyone, listen up," the Chief called. Everyone turned to him. I glanced around one more time, but I still didn't see Longshot.

"The next time we resurface, it'll be on the beaches. So stay alert and fight smart. Now, break time's over. Back in the subs."

Everyone but Aang and Katara started going back in. I ran over to the Duke. "Have you seen Longshot?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No. Why?"

"'Cause I can't find him."

His eyes widened. "Maybe he stayed under."

"Why? He's even more claustrophobic than I am."

He shrugged. "I'll check." He ran back in.

I looked around again. Aang and Katara were the only others there. I groaned quietly and sat down, rubbing my forehead. The day we've been waiting for our whole lives – the day we finally get to take out the Fire Nation – and he goes missing!

I heard Aang and Katara talking.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is," she said, "I'm really proud of you."

"Everything's gonna be different after today, isn't it?" he asked.

She brushed a strand of hair away from her face. "Yes. It is."

"What if… What if I don't come back?"

"Aang. Don't say that. Of course you'll–"

He kissed her.

After a moment of looking startled, she closed her eyes.

They separated.

She blinked several times. Then she looked away, blushing.

Aang flew off. She turned and watched him.

Sokka's head popped out of the sub. "What are you doing? It's time to submerge!"

Even from behind, I could tell she was surprised. "What? Right. I'm on it."

She jumped off the sub, glided over to Appa, jumped on him, and bended an air bubble around his head. He dove.

I ran up to the hatch and climbed back in.

I sat down on the first bare spot I found, eyes wide. That was… unexpected, to say the least.

The Duke ran over. "He stayed down. Don't know why, but – Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

He looked me up and down, like he didn't believe me. Which he probably didn't.

"Well, then, come on!" he said. Okay, so maybe he did. I stood up and followed him back to Toph and Longshot.

"Feeling better, Toph?" I asked as I sat down, trying to forget what I saw.

"A little. At least I can see down here," she said.

Okay, that confused me a bit. "How?" I asked.

"I can sort of see through metal, but since it doesn't carry as many vibrations, it's harder."

"How can you see through it at all?"

"Well, metal is made from earth. There are still little pieces in it. Enough for me to bend it, and to sort of see through it."

"You can bend metal?" the Duke and I asked at the same time.

"Yep. The only known metalbender in the world."

"Awesome!" Once again, that was both of us.

I turned to Longshot to see why he wasn't saying – I'm sorry, "saying" – anything.

And he was just staring at me.

"What?" I asked.

He stood up, grabbed my arm, and dragged me away from them.

"What?" I asked.

(Okay, something's wrong.)

"What?"

(I mean with _you_.)

Oh, dear. Okay, I could trust Longshot, but… Neither of them knew I saw, and… "Nothing's wrong."

He crossed his arms.

"I'm serious!"

(Bee…)

I sighed. "I saw something. Something I wasn't supposed to."

He looked kind of concerned. (What?)

"Aang kissing Katara," I whispered quickly.

(Wait, what?)

I pointed up, as in to the sky, made my fingers look like lips touching, and pointed to Katara.

His eyes widened. (Okay, I knew he liked her, but…)

"No, he surprised her. He said, "What if I don't come back?" She started saying something, but he… cut her off."

(And neither of them knows you were there?)

I shook my head.

(Let me guess: Sokka has no idea.)

"I don't think so. Should I tell him?"

He shrugged. (Depends, I guess. Before you say anything, ask him… I don't know… if he likes Aang, or something. You'll think of something. But you might wanna wait for this to be over.)

"Yeah, that might be smart." I looked over at Sokka, standing next to the guy steering the sub… The Mechanist or something. The kid in the wheelchair's dad. He looked so… responsible.

This was gonna be a _long_ invasion.


	7. Launch

*Bee*

The Chief was looking through the thing at the top of the sub. Peara… something.

He turned around. "Everyone in position," he said. "Earthbenders, into your tanks. This is gonna be a rough ride."

The earthbenders ran off.

I took a deep breath.

We reach the gates. The alarm went off. They started shooting things that looked like anchors at us.

One hit.

Water started gushing in; one of the benders froze it.

But then we started getting pulled up.

Luckily, Katara flew up on Appa and water whipped the chain.

"Ready the torpedoes!" the Chief called.

A couple guys loaded them in.

"Launch!" the Chief yelled.

One of the swampbenders launched them. They busted through the grates blocking us. We went through.

Everyone got ready to attack.

I took another deep breath.

We ascended.

They started shooting missiles at us. But the shell was strong enough for it to not do any damage.

We landed.

The tanks came out first.

Then us.


	8. Just Another Raid

*Bee*

They were still firing.

We – me, Longshot, Pipsqueak, and the Duke – were running alongside one of the tanks.

I tried to block out the sound of the missiles. This was just another raid. Just another small attack, another small attempt at revenge.

The earthbenders were flinging rocks at the battlements. It was doing some damage, but not enough.

Katara landed Appa and got off.

The firebender tanks rolled out and started shooting. Our tanks smashed some of them. But the others, and the battlements, kept shooting.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the swampbenders stop and use a cart full of bucket of water to smash a couple more of their tanks.

A few seconds later, I heard a huge splash. I glanced back.

There was a monster made of seaweed with a wooden mask on the front coming out of the water.

One of its… arms(?) extended and smashed a couple fire tanks. The other knocked another into a battlement.

I turned back around. Didn't get it, didn't try to get it. All I knew was that that thing was on our side, and that was good enough.

And then… komodo rhinos. I knew them too well.

Mongke and the others had burned down Jet's village. And attacked us too many times to count. One time they captured me. Not an experience I like to remember.

_Cue the fireballs_, I thought bitterly.

Pipsqueak ran up to one and knocked the rider off. He gestured for me to climb on.

I shook my head. "No way am I getting on that thing!" I yelled.

He rolled his eyes and climbed on.

"Smellerbee!" the Duke yelled.

I turned around and barely dodged a fireball. A soldier ran up and sliced at me. I dodged it, grabbed two daggers from my belt, and disarmed him. Obviously, he wasn't a bender, 'cause he ran.

Another ran up and was just about to slice at me, when Longshot shot him.

"Thank you!" I yelled.

He nodded.

I noticed a couple more soldiers coming at me from the left. I dropped and slid under them, slicing at their ankles with my daggers.

Pipsqueak rode up, grabbed me, and swung me up next to him.

"I said I didn't wanna ride this thing!" I yelled, grasping him like he was my lifeline.

"It's faster," he said.

"Let me off! Now!"

One of the battlements fired at us. It barely missed.

"Never mind!" I yelled.

I noticed the swamp… thing crushing a few more tanks. Then a… limb (yeah, let's go with that) was shot. And obliterated.

They hit one of our tanks. It fell over and barely missed at least four soldiers.

"Those battlements are a problem," Pipsqueak said.

"You don't say?" I yelled.

He ignored me. "The only problem is, how do we get up there?"

He was right. "We can't. We'd have to…" I got an idea. "We'd have to _fly_!"

I looked around for Appa, only to see Sokka, Katara, and their dad already on him, heading right for the battlements.

See as Pipsqueak was steering, I watched them. Sokka sliced the… launcher, I guess, off of one of them. The Chief threw something at another and it exploded. I saw a flash of blue and knew Katara was waterbending. Appa landed between two. I looked ahead.

Another fleet of komodo rhinos was running right at us. Pipsqueak took one hand off the reins and grabbed his log. They started shooting. We dodged, and Pipsqueak knocked a few soldiers off as they passed, carried by the momentum. I grabbed my daggers, stood up, and, though for the life of me I can't figure out why, jumped off and sliced through a few soldiers.

The battle was starting to get to me. The bloodlust was setting in. I glanced around, looking for someone else to cut through.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an explosion right in front of a battlement, and two figures race out.

I saw another explosion from the one next to it. But this one turned into a missile.

I knew something was wrong. I don't know how, but I did.

I also knew I couldn't do anything to help.

I turned back to the battlefield.


	9. As Luck Would Have It

*Bee*

I'd only managed to take out a couple more soldiers when I heard Appa land.

Something was wrong. Maybe it was all my years taking care of the Duke and the girls talking, but I knew it.

I wanted to go find out what it was, but I couldn't stop fighting. Not just because of the bloodlust. Because they needed me.

I kept glancing back. That was probably my problem.

I took down three more soldiers, than looked back. The Chief, Sokka, and Katara were sitting next to Appa. I could tell the Chief was in pain from the way he was trying to sit up. And couldn't.

And then I felt a sharp pain in my left side.

I spun around and sliced the soldier's throat open with my dagger.

And fell to my knees.

I shifted my armor and lifted up my shirt to look at the damage. The cut didn't look deep, but it was bleeding a lot. Too much.

I knew Katara would be busy with her dad. I wasn't sure if there were any other healers. But I couldn't fight like that.

Damn it. The most important day of my life and I couldn't fight.

I glanced around. Maybe one of the swampbenders could heal. Might as well try to find one, at least.

I staggered to my feet. I tried to block out the metallic smell of blood. I wished one of the others were there. If nothing else, they could run and get someone and I could sit down.

The swampbenders would be somewhere near the water. They had buckets on some of the trucks, but they'd need to refill.

I backtracked, avoiding the battle as much as possible and looking for Pipsqueak, the Duke, and/or Longshot. Anyone who'd care enough to help.

As luck would have it, I didn't see anyone. I'd managed to go at least a few hundred yards when I heard Sokka's voice.

"Listen up, everyone!" he yelled. I turned and saw him on Appa in the middle of the field. "I want the tanks in wedge formation! Warriors and benders in the middle! We're taking that tower, and heading for the royal palace!"

The tanks started moving.

I turned and started back. I was still just behind the last tanks when Sokka yelled, "Charge!"


	10. Don't Be

*Bee*

The tanks advanced.

I looked down. My shirt was soaked through.

Blood. So much blood.

I looked around for a swampbender. I finally spotted a group of them. I limped in their direction as fast as I could. The faster I was healed, the faster I could fight.

They took out a couple more soldiers.

And started to move on.

Crap.

"Wait!" I yelled.

One turned around. A girl a couple years older than me. I limped over.

"Please tell me you're a healer," I begged.

She nodded and looked at the wound. "One second," she said, before running back to one of the trucks. She didn't have a swamp accent.

She ran back over, with water gloves. "Sit down," she said.

I sat.

She put her hands on the wound. The pain started fading. Slowly.

"What's your name?" she asked, obviously trying to get my mind off the battle.

"Smellerbee. Yours?"

"Abi."

"Weird name for a swampbender."

"I'm half Water Tribe, half Earth Kingdom. The only place my parents could agree on was the swamp."

"They here?" I asked.

"No. Neither of them are benders. I learned from them." She nodded towards a couple of swampbenders a few yards away. "They're not healers, though. I taught myself how to heal."

"You friends with that seaweed monster over there?" I pointed.

She chuckled and nodded. "Yeah. You wanna know how it works?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

"There's a swampbender inside, bending the water in the plants. That way he can control them. Back home he uses vines. His name's Huu. He actually helped raise me."

"I was raised by two boys two years older than me."

"That would explain the name. Smellerbee's not the most common name for a girl."

I laughed. "Yeah, it would. You knew I was a girl?"

"You have a ponytail."

"Oh. Right."

The pain was almost gone. I'd be ready to fight in a minute.

"Are your 'guardians' here?" Abi asked.

"One of them."

"What about the other?"

And I'd _just_ gotten my mind off of that. "No, he, uh… He's dead."

Her eyes widened. "What happened?"

"You know the Dai Li? In Ba Sing Se?"

"The guys who betrayed the Earth King and then sided with Princess Azula?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Their old leader killed him."

"I'm so sorry."

I shook my head. "Don't be. I just try not to think about it."

She lifted her hands. "You're healed."

I stood up. "Thanks." I thought a moment. "Mind if I stick with you? I can't find any of the three people I _know_."

She stood up and smiled. "Go right ahead. I could use the backup."


	11. Just Stay Focused

*Bee*

We ran through the hole they'd just made in a wall.

The tanks formed a semi-circle around us. Over the tops I could see the other soldiers flinging fireballs at us.

Sokka, another Water Tribe guy – his name started with a _B_… whatever – and an earthbender were looking at a map. Sokka jumped up. I glanced back and saw the Chief limp in, leaning on Katara. And I thought _I'd_ had bad luck.

Toph and Sokka ran over to him. I turned back to the field.

A few seconds later, I looked over at Abi. She was looking up at the sky, confused. I looked up and saw… _Aang_?

He landed in front of Katara, Sokka, Toph, and the Chief.

_Stay focused_, I thought. _Just stay focused_.

We ran through the space between two tanks. I looked around. I noticed Longshot and the Duke getting cornered by about six firebenders. Longshot sucked at close combat and, from the looks of it, the Duke was out of explosives.

I sighed. "Abi."

She turned to me.

I nodded in their direction. We ran towards them.

I dropped, slid, and sliced at two soldiers' legs. She bended the water off a truck and froze two more. I sliced through another, she froze the last one.

"Where the hell were you guys?" I asked the boys.

"What do you mean?" the Duke asked.

"I _mean_ I was hurt. Bad. And I couldn't find you idiots!"

(Are you okay?)

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks to her." I nodded to Abi, who was leaning against a wall, catching her breath. She obviously wasn't as used to running as I was.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Appa take off.

"Who's she?" the Duke asked.

"Her name's Abi. She's a swampbender."

"Hi, how you doin'?" she panted.

"You sure she's a swampbender?" the Duke asked.

"She's half Water Tribe, half Earth Kingdom," I explained. "The only place her parents could agree on was the swamp."

"Yep, that's pretty much it," she said, finally walking over. "So, who are these guys?"

"This is the Duke," I said. "I've been taking care of this little guy since I found him about three years ago."

She turned to me, eyebrows raised. "Found him?"

"Yeah. We were part of this group of refugee kids trying to take out the Fire Nation. We're all orphans. There's one more of us somewhere around here, and everyone else kinda scattered when our home was burned down."

"Where'd you live?"

"A forest. Oh, and this is Longshot. He's one of the two boys I mentioned earlier."

"_This_ is the guy that named you?" she asked, laughing.

"Uh, no, that'd be the other one."

Awkward silence…

"C'mon, we'd better help out," I said. The three of them nodded. "The Duke, you got any explosives left?"

He shook his head.

"Um, how old is this kid?" Abi asked, looking concerned.

"Eight, why?" I asked, looking around for something he could use.

"An eight year old with explosives?"

"We all need something. I'm a fourteen year old with daggers; Longshot's a sixteen year old with arrows, why not an eight year old with explosives?"

"Whatever you say…"

There were a few soldiers on komodo rhinos a couple hundred yards away, cornering a couple of ours. I got an idea. "Hey, the Duke, you remember all those sword lessons Jet and I gave you?"

He nodded.

"Good. Abi, back me up."

I unsheathed two short swords, ran at the rhinos and up a tail, and sliced through a soldier. Abi froze the others.

I grabbed a sword from the corpse and knocked it off. "I'm so gonna regret doing this," I muttered under my breath, taking the reins.

I rode it back to the boys. "Here!" I yelled, tossing the sword down. The Duke caught it.

"Hey, Abi," I said. "You know how to ride one of these things?"

She shrugged. "I can try. Why?"

I slid off. "It's all yours."

She looked startled, but climbed up. "I'm just wondering; why didn't you want it?" she asked.

"Memories. Not-so-great memories."

She nodded, like she understood.

I knew she didn't.


	12. I'm So Lucky

*Bee*

We ran and caught up with one of the tank groups. Some of the earthbenders were collapsing battlements.

We just pressed forward.

I looked up. The eclipse was just about to start.

The Water Tribe guy… Bato, climbed up on one of the tanks, obviously taking the lead. "The eclipse is only minutes away," he said. "We should be able to make it up the hill by the time it starts, and secure the entire palace by the time it's finished!"

Everyone cheered. Except me and Abi. At this point, we were just too tired. We just kept pressing forward.

"What I wouldn't do for a five-minute break," Abi said next to me.

I had to keep reminding myself it was worse for her. "Same here." For a couple minutes, we just kept walking.

"The eclipse is starting!" the Mechanist yelled. "Put on your eclipse glasses!" Everyone stopped to put them on. I reached into a pocket in my belt.

A hole.

Of course.

Just.

My.

Luck.

I groaned and started running. I could just barely see his… _unique_ hair.

"Wait!" I yelled. "Wait!"

He turned around. I stopped a foot away from him, panting. "Do you have any extras?"

He patted his… apron? "No, sorry. Just try not to look directly at the eclipse."

I sighed. "Great." At least this way I could rest for a few seconds while I waited for the others.

I sat down and waited. I saw them about a minute later, got up, and ran over.

"What was that about?" Abi asked.

"I can't find my glasses. I wanted to know if he had any extras."

"Did he?"

"Nope. I'm so lucky."

"So what are you gonna do?"

"Just not look at the eclipse, I guess." I looked back at the boys.

And cracked up.

"What?" the Duke asked.

"The gla-the glasses!" I gasped. "You look ridiculous!"


	13. Direct Hit

**I know it's been so long since I updated! I'm sorry! I just always forget to upload on FFN... ^^;**

*Bee*

I cursed under my breath and started running again.

I heard the others behind me.

"Smellerbee, what are you doing?" Abi yelled. She probably didn't hear it. We were the ones who'd had watch duty at least twice a week.

I reached the alley and skidded to a stop, assessing the situation.

He'd lost the mount and he was cornered against a wall, one arm bleeding like crazy. Six soldiers surrounded him, spears pointed at him.

It took me half a second to come up with a "plan" – quotes because it wasn't exactly well put together.

I whistled.

They turned.

I felt two pairs of eyes staring at the back of my head like I was crazy.

I could've sworn I saw the soldiers smile. We must not've looked like much, four kids against six grown men who'd been training for most of their lives.

But looks can be deceiving.

An arrow whizzed through the air and pierced through a soldier's heart.

Direct hit.

He collapsed and the others looked apprehensive. They looked like they were about to run.

"What's the matter?" I yelled. "You afraid of a couple of kids?"

They scowled and charged.

_Well, you should be_, I thought.

The Duke couldn't be much help, I knew that. He'd had a couple lessons with me and Jet, but he wasn't that great, and the sword was way too big, anyways.

I glanced back at Longshot and Abi. Longshot nodded, Abi was still looking at me like I'd lost my mind.

Longshot shot at two more, they both went down with arrows through their chests.

I ran the few yards between the groups and slashed at one. It only cut through his arm, barely hurting him and just making him angrier.

But it got him to face me.

He turned, spear at the ready. I ducked under it and in less than a second he had a dagger in his chest.

I turned and found one more on the ground with an arrow in his skull, his armor too thick for one to pierce it, the other in a block of ice.

"What the HELL was THAT?" Abi yelled, looking terrified.

I shrugged. "Improvising."

I darted over to Pipsqueak, who by now was on his knees, clutching his arm.

I skipped the greeting and knelt down to look at it.

There was a gash from his elbow to his shoulder. I couldn't see it that well because of all the blood, but I could tell it was deep.

"Abi!" I yelled.

She was next to me in a few seconds. Half as fast as I would've been.

She saw the wound and gasped. She reached for the pouch on her belt and opened it. It was bone dry.

She looked at the soldier she'd frozen. It was obvious she'd used up all the water on him.

She looked nervous. She didn't know that if she unfroze him we could take him out before he could even blink.

"Do it," Longshot said, arrow aimed.

She gasped again and stared at him. It was the first time she'd heard him speak.

She turned back to the soldier and bent the water back into her pouch.

Before she was even done, he had an arrow through his skull.

She flinched, knelt down next to Pipsqueak, and bent the water onto his arm. He relaxed a bit.

"I'll never get used to that," she muttered.

"What?" I asked, standing up.

She turned, annoyed. "He had an arrow in his _head_!"

I shrugged. "You should be happy he did." I'd gotten used to it a _long_ time ago.

She turned to Longshot. "So you _can_ talk."

He shrugged.

"Why don't you?" she asked.

"He usually doesn't need to," I said.

She turned to me, confused.

"I can understand him just fine, and these two aren't too horrible at it, either."

She looked clueless.

I turned to Pipsqueak. "How are you holding up?"

"I was fine 'til those guys showed up." He scowled. Then he seemed to notice there was a new girl. "And this is…"

"Abi," she said. "And you are?"

"Pipsqueak," I answered for him. "He's one of the other orphans."

She looked about ready to laugh. "Pipsqueak?"

I rolled my eyes. I could only imagine how many times he got that.

But he chuckled. "Yeah, it's weird, I know. Don't blame me, blame Jet."

I bit my lip.

"Jet?" she asked, turning to me.

The look on my face must've given it away, 'cause she dropped her eyes and said, "Oh."

"Yeah," I whispered.

Pipsqueak looked completely lost and The Duke looked kinda confused, but it looked like Longshot got it. He always did.

I sighed. "You almost done?" I asked Abi.

She nodded. No one said anything for a few seconds. Then Abi lifted her hands and said, "Done."

Pipsqueak climbed to his feet. I held out my hand and pulled Abi up.

"Thanks," he said.

She shrugged. "No problem." She turned to me. "Ready?"

"Hang on," I said, thinking. Alright, between the eclipse starting and now it'd been… four or five minutes.

"Damn it," I muttered.

They looked at me, concerned.

"The eclipse is almost over," I explained.

They looked at each other.

"C'mon, we're wasting time," I said. If we couldn't finish up in a few minutes…

They nodded.

"Let's go."

**Yeah. Um, what happened to his log? He... uh... dropped it! Yeah, that's it!**


	14. They're Back

*Bee*

We'd been running for at least a minute. Everyone but Longshot was about to collapse. Alright, Pipsqueak was hurt, The Duke's still a kid, and Abi was new to this, but what was wrong with me? Usually I'd be the one yelling at everyone to hurry up.

Longshot looked back at me. Even behind the glasses, I could tell he was concerned.

"I'm fine," I said, trying to sound convincing.

He didn't look convinced.

"I'm _fine_," I insisted. "Look, we even secured the palace. As long as Aang got rid of the Fire Lord, we're fine."

(And if he didn't?)

I been trying not to think about that. "He did. He has to have. If not… I don't know."

I heard Abi come up behind me.

"How much time left?" I asked.

She looked up. And gulped. "About a minute." She was still gasping. "Good side: the invasion's almost over. As long as Aang won, we win the war. Bad side: the invasion's almost over. If he didn't… we're dead," she said.

I nodded. "C'mon, let's just catch up." I glanced back. Pipsqueak had caught up; The Duke was a few feet behind.

"You okay?" I asked him.

He nodded, gasping so hard I'm amazed his lungs didn't burst.

"I'll carry him," Pipsqueak said.

I nodded. Even if he was hurt, he was the only one who could carry him at this point.

Pipsqueak bent down; The Duke climbed on.

We started running again.

A minute later, we were a few yards away from Katara and the Chief. She leaned him against one of the tanks and they took off their glasses. Abi, Pipsqueak, The Duke, and Longshot did, too.

Bato ran over.

I was so out of breath that the world was spinning, but I could still make out what they were saying.

"What should we do, Hakoda? Shouldn't something have happened by now?"

"I don't know," the Chief said. "But now that the eclipse is over, I expect we're going to see some firebenders any minute."

My gasps were easing a bit. The three of them looked thoughtful. Then Bato looked up.

And terrified.

Katara turned around; I looked up.

Five huge… _balloons_ came into my line of sight. But you wouldn't want these at a party.

They were huge, red… _things_ with Fire Nation emblems on the side. I could see the soldiers on them.

"My own invention!" the Mechanist said behind me. "Oh, this is terrible!"

Well, things could get worse.

And did.

Five brown things, ten times as big as the balloons, came up. They looked like _one_ of them could burn down Ba Sing Se.

I heard Appa groan.

I looked up. Sure enough, Aang, Sokka, and Toph were flying in.

"They're back!" Katara said, pointing.

No duh.

Appa landed. Katara ran over. I was close enough to hear.

Sokka started climbing down. "It was all a trap! Azula knew we were coming and she's plotted out every move!"

He and Toph jumped down.

"We've just gotta get to the beach as fast as we can," he said. "If we can make it to the submarines, maybe we can get away safely.

The Chief came up behind Katara.

Aang stood up, still on Appa's head. "They've got airpower," he said, "but so do I. I'm gonna do what I can to slow them down." He whipped out his glider and took off, Momo right behind him.

Appa roared.

"Appa!" Katara said. "You and I can help, too." She jumped on and Appa took off after Aang.

"Everyone!" Sokka yelled. "Let's get back to the subs."

We started running.

_Again_.

**Ha! Got another up! And poor Bee, she's been running for, like, three chapters. ^^;**


	15. We Took Off

*Bee*

Ugh. I officially hate running.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two balloons go down.

The brown ones were raining fireballs down at Aang and Katara. After a minute, the two of them flew down towards us.

Sokka stopped, turned, and faced the group. Aang and Katara landed behind him. "Try and find cover!" he yelled, looking up. "I think we're about to see some bombs!"

Toph bent a roof over us. A moment later, the bombs started.

The roof started collapsing, but Toph bent pillars to hold it up.

The things kept going. They stepped out from under the roof.

"Why aren't they turning around to attack us again?" Katara said.

"They're headed for the beach…" Aang said. He jumped, realizing the answer. "They're gonna destroy the submarines!"

"How are we all gonna escape?" I heard Sokka say.

"We're not," the Chief said, coming up behind them. He was leaning on Bato.

"Then our only choice is to stand and fight," Sokka said. Okay, even _I_ knew that was a stupid idea. And I'm the one who doesn't back down if I'm outnumbered 20-to-1. "We have the Avatar," he continued. "We could still win."

"Yes," the Chief said. "With the Avatar we _could _still win. On another day." He straightened up. "You kids have to leave. You have to escape on Appa together."

Did he mean we were supposed to stay here and be tortured?

Alright, I could deal. It'd happened before. But what about the others? Pipsqueak was tough, so was Longshot. But Abi was so new, and The Duke was just a little kid!

"What?" Katara said, running to her dad. "We can't leave you behind! We won't leave anyone behind!"

"You're our only chance in the long run," he said. "You and Sokka have to go with Aang somewhere safe. It's the only way to keep hope alive."

Katara turned away.

"The youngest of our group should go with you," Bato said. "The adults will stay behind and surrender. We'll be prisoners, but we'll all survive this battle."

"I've got some experience with Fire Nation prisons," Haru's dad said, walking up to the group. "It's not going to be easy, but we'll get by."

Sokka turned to the airships. "They're at the beach already!"

Sure enough, they were raining bombs down on the subs. There were some swampbenders there, trying to protect them, but they couldn't do much.

The seaweed monster imploded. I heard Abi gasp next to me.

The seaweed landed on the other two benders. Three heads popped out.

Abi sighed with relief.

The subs exploded.

We were officially stranded.

Toph bent Teo and his dad up to Appa's saddle. The Mechanist set him down. "Bye, son," I heard him say.

"Bye, Dad. I'm… really proud of you."

Toph bent him down.

The Duke was hanging on one of Appa's horns, struggling to get on. Pipsqueak walked over and lifted him up.

"I'll miss you, Pipsqueak."

"Take care, The Duke." It hit me that Pipsqueak couldn't come with us.

I ran up and hugged him. I don't know why. I just… did.

"I'll miss you, too," I whispered.

He pat my head. "You'll be fine." But would _he_?

We just stood there for a moment. I could barely make out Haru talking to his dad.

I felt something tug the back of my shirt.

(Come on, we need to get going.) I turned. He looked concerned. I didn't act like that. I was the tough one.

I swallowed and nodded. We climbed up. I saw Katara and Sokka hug their dad, but I wasn't listening to what they were saying. I was thinking of the fact that Abi wasn't with us.

"Abi!" I yelled down.

She looked up and smiled sadly. "I can't come. My family's here. I can't leave them. I'm stronger than them." She chuckled. "Yeah, a sixteen year old girl is stronger than three grown men."

I felt another pang. I realized I'd begun to really consider her my friend. The first non-Freedom Fighter friend I'd had in a long time.

"I'll be fine," she said.

I nodded, turned back, and slouched against the saddle. Longshot put his arm around me.

(Trust her.)

I looked at him. "I do, it's just… everyone's leaving us. Jet yanked us away from everyone, then he…" I took a deep breath. "And now we have to leave them again."

(We'll see them again.)

I bit my lip and nodded. "You're right. We'll all be fine."

Aang stood up. "Thank you all for being so brave and so strong," he said. "I'm gonna make this up to you."

Katara hopped into the saddle and Aang sat down.

We took off.

I glanced back and noticed the zeppelin–I guess that'd be the word–behind us. But it wasn't following.

"I know just the place for us to go where we'll be safe for a while!" Aang said. We turned to him. "The Western Air Temple."

Appa sped up.

**This episode is over! And we say goodbye to Abi. I'm almost possitive she'll be in the finale, but other than that I'm not sure I'll ever use her again...**


	16. Stories

*Bee*

Okay, remember what I said about hating running?

Well, now I hate walking, too.

We'd been walking for _hours_ through a desert. As if that wasn't enough to get my blood boiling, everyone looked _hopeless_. Like we were as good as dead.

I was _exhausted_. We'd been riding on Appa for, what, five hours? I'd managed to get about thirty minutes of sleep. Then we had to get up and start walking through some sun-baked wasteland.

"This is humiliating," Katara said.

"Do you mean getting thoroughly spanked by the Fire Nation," her brother said, "or having to walk all the way to the Western Air Temple?"

"Both."

"Sorry, guys," the master of all _three_ elements apologized, a lucky flying lemur on his head, "but Appa gets tired carrying all these people." He stroked the bison's face.

"I wonder how the rest of the troops are," Teo said.

"They're probably on their way to a prison. It seems like my dad just got out, and now he's going back in," Haru said. I wondered what he meant by that.

"I miss Pipsqueak," The Duke said. Poor kid.

"I miss not having blisters on my feet," Sokka said.

I glared at him. "The Duke, want me to carry you?" I asked.

He turned to me and his eyes lit up. I might not be as huge as Pipsqueak, but I was a bit taller than him.

Longshot looked at me, concerned. (You sure you can?)

"Yeah, I'm fine," I lied. I was about to collapse, but if it was for that sweet little kid I found three years ago, stealing just to get by, I could deal.

(Really, I can do it if–)

"Longshot, I've _got_ it," I snapped. Everyone but The Duke looked at me like I was crazy.

I ignored them. "C'mon, The Duke," I said, pausing and kneeling.

He ran behind me and scrambled on, his arms around my neck.

I hooked my arms around his legs, stood up, and kept walking.

Everyone still looked so depressed…

"Wanna hear a story?" I found myself asking.

They looked at me like I was insane. Again.

I shrugged as best I could with ninety pounds on my back. "It'd distract you."

They all looked at each other. Well, except Toph. She still just looked mildly surprised. And Longshot. But that's because he was still looking at me, more confused than shocked.

"This isn't gonna be a horror story, is it?" Katara asked.

I chuckled. "With this little guy? No way."

"I'm not little!"

"A gory battle?" Katara asked, not convinced.

I frowned. "_No_. It's just how I met a couple of the other Freedom Fighters."

"Go right ahead," Katara said.

I rolled my eyes. "Thank you, Lady Katara," I said, bowing the best I could.

"Oh!" The Duke said. "Who are you gonna tell about?"

I smiled a little. "Well, first, Granyt." I took a deep breath. "Alright, I was nine. At this point we were just starting to discuss the plans for the hideout. We were living in the forest, but we actually slept on the ground. And, for the record, at this point I'd already started the eye makeup and paint. So I didn't look friendly." I hadn't cut my hair yet, though. But it really didn't make a difference, she was still terrified, so why bother saying that?

"Anyway, 'cause we didn't have any protection from the Fire Nation, or anyone else who might wanna get rid of us, there had to be at least three people on watch at all times. Well, since I was one of the first three to join, a lot of the times I'd be one of them.

"One day I was up in the trees, a bit farther away from camp than usual, when I saw someone. A girl about my age, in tattered green clothes, with messy brown hair in pigtails. The only remarkable thing about her was her necklace. She was wearing a piece of rock on a chain."

"Why?" Sokka interrupted.

I glared. "I'm getting to that. Anyway, she looked exhausted. I followed her for a few minutes, then she sat down next to a tree and hugged her knees to her chest. She looked terrified.

"I swung over to her tree and jumped down in front of her. Which really wasn't the best idea, 'cause she screamed, jumped up, and bent a very large rock in my direction.

"I managed to dodge it and yelled, 'Hey! I'm trying to help!' She didn't throw another one, but she still looked apprehensive. I sighed and said, 'Let me guess. You're alone.' She looked confused and still pretty scared, but nodded. I asked her name. She said, 'Holly.'

"I said it was almost good enough. She looked at me like I was crazy. I said we need something that fit her better. She was still staring, so I explained that everyone where I live has a name that whoever found them thought fit them. I told her my name was Bee.

"She asked where I was from. I said, 'An orphanage of sorts.' She looked nervous. So I said, 'An adult-free orphanage.' That seemed to calm her down a bit. I looked at her, tried to figure out a name. The thing that really stuck out was the necklace. I asked her where she got it. She said she made it. I asked why. She explained she was an earthbender, but sometimes she couldn't find bendable earth. So she made that necklace so, if that was ever the case, she wouldn't be helpless."

Toph looked thoughtful.

"I walked over and held out my hand. She slipped it off and handed it to me. I looked at it closer and said, 'Is this granite?' She nodded. I smiled and said, 'Well, then, that's your new name. Granyt.' She thought for a moment, then said, 'I like it.'

"I got an idea. I grabbed a dagger from my belt and held it above the rock. I looked at her, to see if it was okay. She looked nervous. I said, 'I'm just gonna write something.' She asked what I was gonna write. I said, 'You'll see.' I scratched something into it–"

"Can you really do that?" The Duke asked.

I smiled a bit. "Yeah. My daggers are pretty sharp.

"Anyway, I wrote, "Property of Granyt". I handed it back to her. She looked at it and smiled, then seemed to notice something. She said, 'You spelled Granite wrong.' I shrugged and said, 'I know. It's unique.' She thought for a moment, then said, 'I like it.'"

"How'd you spell it?" Sokka asked.

For once, that didn't bother me. "G-r-a-n-y-t."

"Did you really mean to misspell it?" Katara asked.

I frowned and said, "Yes. Moving on, after that I showed her where we lived and introduced her to everybody, but that's a whole other story. But she's actually been one of my best friends ever since."

(Sweet,) I "heard".

I turned towards him. He was smiling.

I felt my face heat up and glared. "Shut up."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw everyone look at each other. Hey, it's not my fault they can't understand him!

(But, really, you make it sound like you two never fight.)

Alright, I'd give him that. "Fair enough."

I could've sworn I saw Sokka pantomime "crazy".

"So, who's next?" The Duke asked, distracting me.

I only thought for a second before I said, "Jewels.

"This was a year later. We'd started building the hideout, and, thanks to Granyt, we'd actually gotten quite a bit done. One day I was working on some plans with Granyt, Cinnamon, and Honey. Well, Honey was really just trying to keep up, but that's not the point. After a while, Cinnamon poked me. I looked up; she was looking at something behind me. I turned around.

"Longshot was standing there with a girl I'd never seen before. Dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, dark skin, kinda pudgy, but pretty. She looked about my age. And kinda nervous. The thing that stuck out about her was kinda like Granyt–a necklace–but this one wasn't a rock, it was a bracelet on a chain."

"A bracelet on a chain?" Sokka interrupted.

I frowned. "Yes, a bracelet on a chain. Moving on! It was really small, a baby bracelet. But it looked expensive. Instead of beads, it had actual jewels.

"That automatically made me kinda defensive. None of us had been all that rich. Some of us had had more money than other, but there was no one with enough money to buy a bracelet with actual jewels. She'd never be able to adapt to living in the trees, stealing to survive. Then I noticed how she was dressed. Her clothes weren't as torn up as ours, but they definitely weren't expensive. Just a plain green and brown tunic and pants the same colors. Besides, if she were rich, wouldn't she have gotten a bigger bracelet?

"I got up and walked over. I said to Longshot, 'You found her?' He nodded and told me it was the Fire Nation. Again. My thoughts? Welcome to the club.

"I asked her name. She said, 'Veronica.' I frowned, turned to Longshot, and said, 'You haven't named her yet?' He shook his head. I said, 'Well, go on. You find 'em, you name 'em.' Yeah, he had no idea what to call her.

"So I rolled my eyes and took over. I tried to think of something that fit. And, again, my eyes went straight to the necklace. And I thought of 'Jewels'.

"Later on she told me about herself. She never knew her parents. The necklace is all she has left of them. She was raised by a fisherman and his wife. That day the Fire Nation had come, destroyed her town, and killed her family. She's actually an earthbender, but she wasn't a great one, 'cause she didn't have anyone to learn from. We're still good friends, but she's closer to Granyt."

"They were nice stories," Katara said. Gasp! Was that a compliment?

"Uh… thanks. But you know they aren't really 'stories', right?"

"What do you mean?" She looked confused in a very cutesy way. Bleh.

I managed not to roll my eyes. "I mean they actually happened. 'Story' implies it's fake."

_Now_ she understood. "Well, I liked them anyway." Geez, why is it so _hard_ for me to hate her?

"So, you still hang out with them?" Teo asked.

"Yeah, why?"

He shrugged. "I dunno, you just don't seem like the type." Wait, what?

I shook my head. "Right."

"You never told me how you met them before," The Duke said in my ear.

"I didn't?" I could've sworn I did.

I felt him shake his head.

All right, at this point my arms were about to fall off.

"Hey, The Duke?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind if I set you down?"

"Oh! No, go right ahead."

"Thanks," I said, kneeling. He slid off.

"Hey we're here!" Toph said. Perfect timing. "I can feel it!"

"Uh…" Katara said. "I think your feet need their eyes checked."

I finally looked around we were standing on a cliff, the ground rising up again several hundred yards out. There was nothing that even vaguely resembled shelter.

"No," Aang said. "She's right! We _are_ here!"

Sokka looked around and shrugged. I just wanted to see this place.

"Wow!" Toph said. "It's amazing!"

**AN - See? See, I'm alive! I just don't update here often! That and I didn't have a computer for several months! Well, expect a flood of updates, people!**


	17. Wait Up

*Bee*

Toph was right, it _was _amazing. The whole place was built under the lip of the cliff. It looked ancient, made completely out of pale stone. But even after all those years, the statues were still in perfect condition and the fountain was still gorgeous.

"It's so different from the Northern Air Temple," Teo said. Oh, yeah, I remembered… Aang(?) telling me he lived there. At some point. Wait, when did I even talk to him?

"I wonder if there are any secret rooms," he finished. Hm, that could get interesting.

"Let's go check it out," Haru said, running ahead.

The Duke and Teo looked at each other. The Duke started running and Teo wheeled off.

I glanced over at Longshot.

(You wanna?)

I shrugged, grinning. "Why not?" We raced off after them.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Aang start running and Katara stop him with his glider.

"You guys go," she called. "I think we need to talk about some things."

I ran up a flight of stairs and waited a moment as Haru pushed Teo up.

He started wheeling away. "I'll race you, Duke," he said.

"I told you!" The Duke said. "It's _The_ Duke!"

I glanced over at Longshot. He was holding back a smile, too. The four of us took off after Teo.

"Where do you wanna check out first?" Haru asked.

"Let's see!" Teo said, wheeling too fast for Haru and The Duke to keep up. Longshot and I were running a few feet behind him, letting him take the lead.

By the time he actually found something, the lack of sleep was starting to take over again. I was jogging now, a good 20 feet behind him.

So, somehow, he got a door open and wheeled in. I was still a couple feet behind him when he said, quite simply, "Whoa."

Longshot and I skidded to a stop behind him.

And just stared.

"That is one giant Pai Sho table," I said, staring at the thing just above my head.

"Would it kill you to wait up?" The Duke gasped, landing on his knees a few feet behind us. I heard a second set of gasps and knew Haru was there, too.

The stop of any form of breathing made me assume they'd looked up.

"AWESOME!" The Duke squealed. He ran up to the thing, climbed up a leg, and gasped. "This is almost as cool as dynamite!"

Longshot and I looked at each other, surprised. That cool?

I grabbed the top of the table and flipped up.

It was pretty cool. Everything was all to scale, and all the pieces were there, making them the size of chairs.

"Heh," I muttered, smiling. I heard Longshot scramble up–he isn't, nor will he ever be, nearly as flexible as me–and walk over next to me.

"If only Cinnamon and Honey were here to see this, huh?" I said, kneeling down next to a tile. They loved Pai Sho, Spirits know why.

The Duke slumped a little.

My eyebrows raised. "You okay?"

He spun around. "What? Yeah…" He looked away. "I just… I miss everyone, okay?"

I smiled a bit and walked over to him. "Hey, so do I." I got a Honey-like evil plan. "Is there someone _specific_ you miss?"

He shrugged. "Well, I–" He froze. "Wait a minute." He narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean by specific?"

I shrugged back. "You know, Pip, Cinnamon, Whistle, Mouse," I had to hold back a laugh at that one, "Lace," I smirked, "Granyt, Jasliene, Sneers," let a chuckled slip there, "Jewels, _Honey_…" I smiled sweetly.

He turned beet red. "Shut up!"

I grinned. "You know, she–"

(Bee!)

I turned to Longshot, now right behind me, sliding his hand over his throat. Oh, yeah. She would kill me. I'd actually forgotten about that.

Luckily The Duke didn't notice; he was still in a huff.

I chuckled. "C'mon, let's go."

The boys followed me to the edge. I jumped; they had the good sense to climb.

Teo and Haru were still there. Teo was messing with some weird looking contraption or another and Haru was just daydreaming, both looking a bit bored and obviously not noticing us.

I smiled a bit. "Uh, guys?"

They both snapped out of it. Teo's face brightened.

"So, how was it?"

I shrugged. "It was cool. The pieces were to scale and everything."

He smiled. "Wish I could've seen it."

Must be hard, not being able to climb, or anything. I'd lived in trees for more than half my life; I couldn't imagine that.

"C'mon, let's go see what else there is!" By the time I snapped out of it, he was already wheeling down the hallway.

I rolled my eyes at the enthusiasm. "Wait up!"


	18. Hall of Statues

*Bee (yes, again)*

I jogged after Teo. Who, just my luck, slammed on the brakes two feet from the door.

Normally I can stop easily, but was only a couple of feet behind him and the toe of the boot caught on a crack.

So I went flying.

I grabbed onto the back of his chair, the momentum still propelling me forward, and therefore making him slide forward and bump into the door.

"Sorry," I muttered, straightening up.

He looked back and chuckled.

"Nyeh," I muttered, sticking my tongue out at him.

He laughed harder.

I rolled my eyes, just as Longshot slid in behind me.

He looked at my arm, still leaning on the wheelchair, looked back up at me, and raised an eyebrow.

(Uh, what'd I miss?)

"None ya," I grumbled.

Teo covered his mouth, trying not to laugh.

The Duke stopped a couple of feet behind me. "You guys really need to learn to slow down," he muttered, a little short on breath.

I grinned. "Oh, come on. A few months ago you could beat half the tree house in a race, easy."

He scowled. "I'm a little rusty, okay?"

Haru skidded to a stop behind him. "I hate you," he gasped.

The four of us laughed.

"Okay, you know what?" I managed. "Let's stop making fun of people and just see what's behind the door."

Teo nodded, still chuckling, and wheeled back so I could reach the handle. I grabbed it and dragged the – very heavy, I might add – giant door back about ten feet.

The four of them stopped laughing – or scowling, in Haru's case – and stared.

"What?" I asked.

Longshot snapped out of it and pointed though the doorway.

I leaned forward to look without letting go of the door, standing on my toes to give me a little more height.

I stared.

It wasn't a room. It was a hallway lined by giant marble statues of airbenders, bison, and lemurs.

I snapped out of it and whistled. "A giant Hall of Statues. There's something you don't see every day."

Teo and The Duke snapped out of it, glanced at each other, grinned, and started running – or wheeling really quickly. Longshot and I ran after them, leaving Haru shaking his head and blinking the dust out of his eyes.

I glanced at the statues as I was running, wishing I had a little more time to look. Jewels had affected me. She loved statues, but really couldn't make a good one to save her life.

I slid in behind Teo, who had stopped a few feet in front of a giant ramp. He glanced at The Duke again, who nodded eagerly.

Those two could understand each other as well as Longshot and me.

"One test run by myself first, though," Teo said.

The Duke rolled his eyes, arms folded across his chest. "Fine."

I shook my head, wandered over to the nearest statue, and knelt down to read the inscription.

'Avatar Yangchen, great and fearless leader.' Hm.

I looked back up and saw Teo a good fifteen feet back from the edge, just far enough to gain good speed. The Duke was standing to the side, looking on eagerly, Longshot was watching, but not interested, and Haru had just walked into my field of vision.

Teo placed his hands on the wheels and started spinning.

Haru looked a little confused, but then he saw the ramp and got it.

I jogged a little closer as Teo started speeding up. He hit the edge of the ramp and started laughing, lifting his hands off.

I came up to the edge, watching him roll down. The thing was actually pretty steep.

About three quarters of the way down, his hand reached for the break.

_Good place to stop_, I thought. The kid knew what he was doing.

He pulled back.

It snapped in half.

He looked down, letting me see his profile. He was surprised and scared, just like everyone else. Although appropriately more so.

I glanced at Longshot, who had run over so he was standing next to me. He looked as scared as me.

I looked back down the ramp. That boy was in for a head-on collision if he didn't think fast.

Lucky for him he did.

He grabbed the wheels and jerked them to the right so the left side of his chair was facing the wall, and falling fast at the same time.

If he fell first, it would hurt. Bad. But the momentum would slow down first, so he'd be thrown out, and be pretty scraped up, but fine.

If he crashed into the wall first, the chair would shatter, his head would slam against solid rock, and he'd break at least most of his left side.

The wheels screeched against the polished rock, tipping while speeding toward the dangerously close slab of marble.

The back left wheel jumped the rock, so the chair slammed back down, somehow not splintering a wheel, and started tipping fast.

I thought he'd be just in the clear. The chair fully crashed down.

I heard a surprisingly quiet, "Ow!"

The chair was still skidding along too fast. It'd been going faster, and longer, that it should have. And he was still going headfirst.

So his head slammed into the wall.


	19. Shut Up and Push

**Looky! Another chapter! (Yes, I'm trying to get into the habit of putting ANs.) To everyone who's said or thought "Poor Teo"… Yeah, that's about right. ^^'**

**You can actually blame Zomz (my main reader on dA) for that one. She came up with the idea.**

*Bee*

I sprinted down the ramp, skidded to a stop, and dropped to my knees next to the boy laying on the ground.

"Are you okay?" I asked emotionlessly, using my sleeve to wipe some of the blood off of his forehead.

He groaned and turned a little bit on his side, his eyes still squeezed shut.

I took that as a yes.

"Why'd you do it?" I asked, involuntarily but gently brushing his hair from his face.

"What do you mean?" he grumbled.

"You rolled down a steep ramp at a hundred miles an hour without checking your breaks first." My hand kept lightly stroking his forehead, tracing around the gash. I really wasn't meaning to do it.

"Better than doing it with The Duke," he said, words still too soft and slightly slurred with pain and dizziness.

So he'd tried something to make sure it was relatively safe and had gotten hurt. Spirits, how many times had I done something like that for the same kid?

"Guess we're more alike than I thought," I said quietly.

"Mm," he muttered in agreement. His eyes opened and drifted to my hand. "Uh, what are you doing?"

"Huh?" I asked, confused. I followed his eyes and realized what he meant. "Oh, sorry!" I quickly took it off and nervously ran it though my hair. "Parental instinct."

"Mm." His eyes closed again. "You realize The Duke's right behind you, right?"

I blinked, surprised, and glanced back. Sure enough, the helmeted demon was right there.

"Hey," I said kindly, seeing the worry on his face.

"Hi," he said nervously. "I-is he gonna be okay?"

I nodded, smiling softly. "He'll be fine. A little bruised and in need of wood for some repairs, but fine."

He sighed with relief, then opened his mouth to say something.

"You know it wasn't your fault, right?" I asked before he could.

"I-I know…" he trailed off, looking at the ground.

"Good," I lightly, trying to brighten up. "Hey, where are Longshot and Haru?"

He pointed to the ridge, not really looking up.

I followed his finger and saw Longshot watching us, his concern masked, and Haru standing next to him, seemingly still in shock. I locked on the former and gave him a small thumbs-up.

He nodded in acknowledgement, his shoulders relaxing being the only clue that his thoughts changed at all.

I turned back to Teo. "So, Flyboy, what say you we get you up on your wheels and wrap up that cut?"

He groaned. "Fine."

I smiled a little and switched positions so my right leg was bent and balancing on my toes and my left knee was pulled up to my chest. I slid the injured boy out of the surprisingly intact chair, righted it, slid my arms under his knees and shoulder blades, picked him up, and set him down in the slightly splintered wood.

He looked over at me, his eyes half open. "You're strong."

I shrugged. "Eight years of living in the forest, fending for myself and fifty other kids."

(Sixty,) a voice in my head corrected.

I stiffened, shocked, turned back toward the ridge, and glared at my best friend, who tried not to smile. I noticed The Duke was now standing next to him.

"Sixty," I said through my teeth.

I turned back to the boy in the chair, who was looking at me rather skeptically.

"I'm not crazy, I swear," I muttered. I took the grips of his usually self-driven mode of transportation. "And I'm pushing you back up."

He nodded slightly in agreement and leaned back against the wood. And he was supposed to be the youthful, optimistic one.

"That bad, huh?" I asked, amused, not moving.

"Shut up and push," he said quietly, half asleep.

I laughed and did as he said.


End file.
